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Five Ways to Evaluate Your Leadership Team
Not just once, either.
By Anthony Zecca
Leading from the Edge
“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.” – Andrew Carnegie, industrialist
MORE by Anthony Zecca
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The above quote by Andrew Carnegie really puts a fence around the key responsibilities of your leadership team:
- Ability to lead their team to work together toward a common vision
- Ability to direct (drive) their individual team members’ efforts and accomplishments toward maintaining alignment with the firm’s objectives and
- Ability to inspire and motivate each team member to achieve more than they have and to reach top performance and top results as a team
Why the Profession’s Best Are Walking Away from Partnership | Gear Up for Growth
Firms, not candidates, are to blame for a generation of superstars declining the summons.
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Gear Up for Growth
with Jean Caragher
for CPA Trendlines
Few voices carry more weight on the question of who becomes a partner, and why, than Jim Metzler’s.
So when the former AICPA vice president and longtime mentor to emerging firm leaders says the profession’s top performers are hesitating at the threshold of partnership, firm owners would do well to listen.
MORE Jean Caragher here | Get her best-selling handbook, The 90-Day Marketing Plan for CPA Firms, here | MORE Gear Up for Growth here |
In the new episode of “Gear Up for Growth,” hosted by Jean Caragher of Capstone Marketing, Metzler lays out why – and what separates the firms that keep their stars from the ones that lose them.
“The bigger the superstar in the firm, the more they say, ‘I’m really not sure if I want to be a partner,'” says Jim Metzler, founder of Metzler Advisory Group and author of “The Emerging Partner Playbook: A Complete Guide for Emerging Partners in CPA Firms,” this edition of “Gear Up for Growth,” powered by CPA Trendlines and hosted by Jean Caragher, president of Capstone Marketing. READ MORE →
Can Gen Z and Boomers Speak the Same Business Language? | ARC
As workplace language evolves, effective professionals know their audience and adapt their message.
Sponsored by Radical Pricing by the Radical CPA, Jody Padar | See Today’s Special Offer
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Accounting ARC
With Byron Patrick, Donny Shimamoto and Liz Mason
Center for Accounting Transformation
Every generation enters the workplace speaking a slightly different language.
For Generation Z, that language may include phrases such as “delulu,” “mid” and “fire.” For earlier generations, the dated vocabulary might sound different, but the underlying challenge remains familiar: How do people bring their authentic voices to work while still communicating professionally?
MORE Accounting ARC: Accounting Internships Need an Upgrade | The CPA Career Nobody Talks About | Conference Season Exposes Accounting’s Knowledge Gap | The Feedback Mistake That Costs You Your Best People | Is Your Boss Really the Problem? | Most Accountants Are Missing This AI Shift | AI Can Fix Your Workflow—or Break It in Seconds | Efficiency Is the Wrong Goal for AI | Accounting’s Hidden Talent Risk: The Sandwich Generation | Built Fast. Sold Faster. Broken Later? The Truth About Accounting Tech | Recognize When You Need to Recharge Before You Burn Out | Valuing More Than the Balance Sheet
In this episode of the Accounting ARC podcast, Donny Shimamoto, CPA.CITP, CGMA; Byron Patrick, CPA.CITP; and Liz Mason, CPA, examine the supposed language barrier separating Generation Z and baby boomers — and question whether it is really as new or insurmountable as some portray it.
Their conclusion is less about memorizing the latest slang and more about developing an essential power skill: adaptability.
It’s Time to Toss Timesheets
Five reasons why.
By Jody Padar
Radical Pricing – By The Radical CPA
When you measure time on timesheets, you are measuring a scarce commodity. There are only so many billable hours in a week.
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By measuring billable hours, you’re living in a world of scarcity. This is bound to affect your firm, both internally and externally.
Why “Busy” Is the Wrong Productivity Metric in Accounting
Many firms get planning assumptions wrong.
By William Englehaupt
Walk through almost any accounting firm during busy season, and the signals are familiar: calendars packed wall-to-wall, inboxes filling faster than they can be cleared, and professionals praised for constantly stepping up to meet demands. In many firms, this visible intensity is taken as proof of productivity. If people are busy, the thinking goes, work must be getting done.
But “busy” is not a productivity metric. It is a symptom. And when firms mistake it for performance, they quietly undermine quality, predictability, and morale.
Accounting is not alone in this trap, but the profession is especially vulnerable to it. Long hours and constant responsiveness feel reassuring in high-risk environments. They create the appearance of control. What they rarely produce is a reliable flow.